The Gambia and Senegal - Trip List

The full eBird trip list is here, with all checklists and locations, it's a great bit of functionality and fully interactive with maps, species and so on. I've also prepared the below day by day summary for those not fully on board with the magic of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. As you can see I got 111 new birds, and have attached 55 photos (so far, there are a few more to do). And so that's a wrap, a mere nine months late but better late than never. I really need to pull my finger out if I am going to actually get 2024 finished in 2024...

The Gambia - January 2024 - Day 7 - Brufut and Marakissa

Final day! We flew at around 9pm or thereabouts, arriving back at Gatwick at something like 3am. This is the ethos of the package holiday.... Before that though we had a lot more birding to do. Would Yankuba be keen?

The short answer was no. The longer answer was that we actually had to give him money for petrol to be taken to Brufut Woods, as all he wanted to do was walk around Kotu again. And then when we wanted to go to Marakissa as well he threw a fit, that it was too far, that we didn't have enough time etc etc. All of which was garbage as in fact we spent over two hours at Marakissa and still made the flight. We were surprised at his recalcitrance, but as Mick said, this was not his first rodeo. Maybe most clients just acquiesce for the sake of keeping things nice and friendly and he gets an easy life. Not us I'm afraid.

Western Plantain-eater

Laughing Dove

Anyway after a bit of dialogue at the creek during which I finally saw African Thrush, we headed the short distance to Brufut Woods. It's about half an hour away. Whilst habitation has encroached on all sides, this is still a great area for birding, and at a drinking station we were able to observe a pair of Violet Turaco at close range. Although we might have got other species there we didn't linger, mainly as the guides there just used the opportunity to have a nice loud chat, which didn't feel especially conducive to birding. Can you tell we were done with guides at this point? Anyway, we had a excellent walk both through the woods and along the outer edge, and were shown another Long-tailed Nightjar at a day roost. The best part however was walking though some of the lanes and low-level agricultural areas on the opposite side of the road to the woods. Here we found Fanti Sawwing, Red-necked Falcon, Greater Honeyguide, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Brown Babbler. more African Thrush, and Northern Black-Flycatcher. 

Violet Turaco

Mourning Collared Dove

Moving on to Tujareng we walked all the way from the final houses down to the ocean, seeing Mottled Spinetail, Double-spurred Spurfowl, Shikra, Blue-cheeked and Little Bee-eaters, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Singing Cisticola, Splendid and Variable Sunbirds, and Yellow-fronted Canary. It was a strange place. There were some occupied dwellings, but also a zoned area where people had built the walls of compounds and nothing more, and the interiors were a maze of vegetation with the odd cow wandering around.

Beautiful Sunbird

Wattled Lapwing

From here we went to our final and best stop of the day, Marakissa. This is a bridge over a river that then expands into a series of shallow loops to the east with easily navigable tracks on both sides. The west side is more of an actual river, and getting close to that part was more challenging, especially when we saw our first Black Heron on that side. This was an excellent location and we were more than happy to stay here until we needed to pack up and get to the airport. Seeing as there was no pressure to find additional species we spent most of the time trying to photograph the Black Herons (there were four in total), and to at least get something on the Black Crakes (five of these!) as they dashed between cover. There were tons of Waders that I couldn't get close to, and lots of Herons that I did slightly better with, and lots of Yellow-billed Shrikes. A stop that I highly recommend for any itinerary. It's about 45 minutes from the airport and thus works well as a final stop.

Black Crake

Black Heron

Hamerkop

Wire-tailed Swallow

Pied Kingfisher

Yellow-billed Shrike

Just after 5pm we returned to the car, packed the cameras away, changed clothes, and headed to the airport. Our goodbyes were less frosty than I had anticipated, and as well as a small tip I gave him my portable battery pack which he had been using more or less constantly since he discovered I had one. It could easily be replaced and he clearly found it genuinely useful, and it would presumably be harder to get one here. He also asked if we also get him a new mobile phone once back in the UK and have it sent out with the next lot of visiting birders but I think that was a step too far. In summary he knew the birds, but he was also rather distracted for about half of the trip and not really interested in delivering a top-quality service nor working very hard. Not our business to ask, and unfortunate if indeed there was something wrong, but at the end of the day we were paying clients - and paying high amounts in local terms - so were disappointed that he became rather lacklustre. 

I don't use guides especially often but the ones I have used have for the most part been excellent, especially in Central and South America, and also on my first South African trip. Not only are they phenomenal birders but they work incredibly hard to get you the birds and make the experience unforgettable. That didn't happen this time. But at the end of the day we come home with 227 species and most of the main targets, so even when things are not perfect you can still see tons. My advice if going to The Gambia is to hire a less experienced guide rather than one of the established names. A bit of a gamble perhaps but they might be enthused and more keen in the interests of getting a good reputation and future business. As it stands I can't wholeheartedly recommend the guide we used but ultimately it was fine and we came away with what we wanted.

Anyway, to the final matter of the airport. It was hell on earth. There is an exit tax to pay, which must be cash (all major currencies accepted!) and there was the most crazy queue in order to ensure that everyone paid it, exacerbated by a seeming complete failure of the IT systems designed to record it. Eventually I made it to a little window where you can pay Dalasi, Euros, Pounds, Dollars, whatever - try and use local currency as the exchange rates are pure fantasy. Behind the grille more senior people counted up huge wads of banknotes and stuffed them into bags, it felt more like the back room of an illicit casino than an international airport, really quite sordid. Eventually I got my little slip of paper that said that sufficient cash had been extracted from me that I could leave the country, and was able to progress through security and to an outside seating area where we had a celebratory drink that we had survived the ordeal. I don't remember the flight home. Tui is basically long haul Ryanair and whilst you have to endure it there is no point dwelling on it.

I'd like to think my cash is headed here

Next up the inevitable trip list.

The Gambia - January 2024 - Day 6 - Kotu Creek and Tanji Beach

We met Yankuba at the appointed time, he is definitely quite punctual. He may have in fact slept in the car rather than going home as he had said he would, which might perhaps explain why we had stopped to offload the Senagalese chair at his house the previous evening, something we wouldn't have needed to do if he had been heading back there after dropping us off. Regardless, he seemed to have recovered which was good news.

There was another problem however - the creek was stuck at low tide and was non-navigable, a recently created sandbar at the beach was preventing water entering the mangroves and filling up the creek. It was either that or the creek had filled up and the water could not empty due to a sandbar but either way, no boat trip. We should have got in the car and gone straight to one of the nearby sites like Brufut Woods, but instead we agreed to bird the local area. 

Red-cheeked Cordonbleu

Splendid Starling

African Golden Oriole

Common Bulbul

Squacco Heron

So, Kotu it was then. To be fair when you look at the creek on a satellite view it is really really short, so perhaps we didn't miss much unless it has good photographic opportunities. I will never know, but I have to say that our birding walk - massive - was a worthy substitute. We were out for over four hours, all the way along the creek and then bia a boardwalk onto the golf course, and then to a reservoir and along what is known as the Casino Cycle Track via a pond for what was actually our largest list in terms of species diversity with 67. We had Black Crake, White-faced Whistling Duck, Caspian Tern, African Sacred Ibis, Northern White-faced Owl and Green Woodhoopoe at a ruined hotel, African Golden Oriole, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, African Grey Woodpecker and three species of Sunbird on the Golf Course and a lot more besides. Despite the huge amount of development which continues at the time of writing, the whole area is simply teeming with birds. The Golf Course was particularly good, with a flowering tree that attracted loads of birds to feed. It was so good that here is a little map.

 Northern White-faced Owl

Senegal Coucal

The whole loop was nearly four miles, and we returned to the hotel just before lunch. Yankuba suggested we take a break, as is normal for birding in the tropics, who wants to bird in the heat of the day when activity is low. We figured we would have a couple of hours off, but no, three and a half. Clearly yesterday's issues remained. At this point, whatever works for him. So Mick and I had a nice chilled out lunch at the hotel for an hour or so and then decided that we would go birding without him. It was hot for sure, but nonetheless we did another three miles around broadly the same area and managed to find a few more species for the list including Crag Martin, Red-chested Swallow and Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher.

At half three we met Yankuba again and tried the creek - no change. The suggestion of going somewhere in the vehicle was first met with resistance but we persisted, even showing Yankuba where on the map it was and how it couldn't possibly take more than 30 minutes to get to (which of course he knew - I've no idea why he no longer wanted to take us where we wanted to go). Anyway we prevailed, and so off to Tanji Beach we went. This is mentioned in the Gosney Guide as being decent, and we knew that it was a new habitat for the trip it would surely add new birds. In short it was great - there is a fishing community on the beach, with traditional boats landing catches of small bait fish which are then dried on racks on the shore. The area stank to high heaven and there was a grim amount of rubbish, but I guess life comes first around here. As well as the birds I tried to capture the scene.

West African Crested Tern

Grey-hooded Gull

Western Reef Heron

Greenshank

Senegal Coucal

We walked about a mile up the beach and down again, alongside shallow coastal tide-surge lagoons. There were waders on these lagoons, and Egrets, and along the shore were vast numbers of Grey-hooded Gull, along with a few Lesser Black-backeds, Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern and West African Crested Tern. Some Pink-backed Pelicans flew past with an Osprey and overall it was just another really birdy location. We stayed here until the sun set and then made our way back to Kotu in heavy traffic.

The Gambia - January 2024 - Day 5 - Janjanbureh back to Kotu Creek

The river at Janjanbureh

Another big day of driving today, doing in a single day what we did over two days with a break at Tendaba on the way out. We nonetheless hoped to see some birds as there were some tasty looking hotspots en route. 

The birding day started at the Baobolong Camp and Guest House, of note were Green-backed Camaroptera and Leaf-Love in the big tree that spans the compound, a large flock of Spur-winged Geese downriver at dawn, and a pair of Bruce's Green-Pigeon seen in the trees opposite whilst having breakfast. These were new for the trip, and given how well they blended into the foliage it was no surprise we hadn't seen them before. 

Baobolong Camp. The trees are full of birds here, and Vultures roost on the transmitter tower.

After packing up we headed to Janjanbureh West End, the opposite side of the island that we were staying on. This is the site of the former Bird Safari Camp, now in a state of considerable ruin. I'm not entirely clear on the story, but from what I have read it seems as if this majority European-owned enterprise was 'taken over' by the minority Gambian co-owner, who with the local authorities in his pocket was able to block any attempt to recover the property despite the obvious fraud that must have taken place. I am not entirely sure what has been gained here given the entire place is now falling to bits and nobody occupies it, so it just seems like a massive loss, especially as we saw 50 species in under two hours. All that hard work and enterprise for naught, and the end of somebody's dream for good measure. Highlights here were Violet Turaco, more Bruce's Green-Pigeon, Green Woodhoopoe, Bearded Barbet, our only Wryneck of the trip, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Northern Puffback, Oriole Warbler, White-crowned Robin-Chat, and a large mixed flocks of Weavers, Quelea, Firefinch and Waxbill. Some Long-tailed Glossy Starling jumped around the foetid ex-swimming pool.

African Grey Hornbill

Long-tailed Glossy Starling

Yellow-crowned Gonolek

African Green Bee-eater

We were on the road by 10.30am, headed along the south bank, i.e. a route we had not taken before. Our first scheduled stop was not far away, Fulabantang village, and here we found Brown Snake-Eagle and Wahlberg's Eagle whilst looking at the Marabou Stork colony that most birding tours stop for. A little further on at Brikama Ba we stopped at a known Verreaux's Eagle Owl stake-out and found two in the massive trees just outside the village.

Our main planned stop for the day was the Jakhaly Rice Fields, an agriculatural area with a grid system of paddies. What a great site this was, and although many of the fields were dry once we hit upon a few with water it was a bonanza and our species count soared. Black-winged Stilt, Greater Painted-Snipe, Kittlitz's Plover, Blackwit, Common Snipe, Green, Common and Wood Sandpipers, Little Stint, Ruff, Collared Pratincole, Black Crake, Coucals, tons of Cattle Egret and Jacanas. Yankuba didn't feature much here, there were clearly issues he was having to deal with elsewhere, and he spent much of the time on the phone. Thinking about it this was the day when things started to go downhill a bit, and from here on in it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. Unfortunately he didn't have much of a choice, but things did become a bit strained as a result, as he seemed not to really want to go out of his way at this point and we had to really push to get in as much birding as we knew we could. Still, Mick and I had a good time exploring the habitat and trying to advance the list as much as possible.

Dalaba Wetland. Somewhere in here is an African Pygmy Goose

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

By mid-afternoon we had moved on the Dalaba Wetland where our main target was an invisible and then very flightly African Pygmy Goose. Our final stop of the day was Wurokang, a known spot for Abyssinian Ground Hornbill and Temminck's Courser. We didn't get the former, but a long search (by myself, as Yankuba stayed close to the car as a hint that he wanted to get going - a hint I ignored as I really wanted to see the Courser) did find a handful of the latter, and in beautiful evening light I managed a few photos. Finally back at the car we insisted that Mick get to see them as well, so a quick drive across the area ensued, with Yankuba complaining all the way. There were also Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, a Pied-winged Swallow, Piapiac, a Woodchat Shrike and a Northern Wheatear. Later it turned out that Yankuba did not like driving in the dark which we had not realised, and had wanted to be back at Kotu Creek in daylight and furthermore that we shouldn't have birded Janjanbureh West End in the morning as it caused us to be behind schedule. He also wanted us to pay for a hotel for him that evening so he didn't have to go home. This had not been part of the agreed plan or costs and so we politely refused, our decision being partly swayed by the lack of lunches to this point (especially as he bought himself proper lunches!) and the feeling that we were being short-changed at almost every point. Maybe we should have done as it might have got him back on side and made for an easier final couple of days. 

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark

Temminck's Courser

Fork-tailed Drongo

Nonetheless we made it to Kotu and our mostly un-used hotel safely, stopping one final time on the way to drop off the chair at Yankuba's house seeing as we were passing anyway - it's quite close to the airport. It was in the dark but not especially late. We agreed to meet again the following morning for our scheduled boat trip up the creek. It had for sure been a really long day and as we were clearly all very tired so we agreed on a later than usual start. We hoped that the next day would see everyone back on form and that some time at home would perk our guide up ready for the final one and a half days.